Funding of EC critical for growth of our democracy

The Electoral Commission (EC) has, over the years, been looking for internally and externally generated funds to run its operations.

Efforts by the government, the EC and donor partners to bridge the funding gap of the commission, particularly in an election year, have not been an easy task.

Before the 2016 elections, the EC indicated that the elections could cost the country about GH¢1.2 billion, making them the most expensive elections in the history of the country.

The budget for the polls, according to the commission, was premised on 30,000 polling stations for elections that would involve about 152,000 election officials.

Some of the key drivers for the increase were the number of polling stations, which also meant an increase in the number of election officials; technology cost, including data centre management systems, the biometric verification device, voter management system, among other issues.

Undoubtedly, the cost of conducting elections in Ghana is consistently going up, for which reason there is the need for innovative and pragmatic measures to bridge the funding gap.

It is in line with this need that the proposal for a one per cent levy on alcoholic beverages, among other things, to raise enough funds for the operations of the election management body cannot be taken lightly.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation and former Senior Governance Adviser to the United Nations, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, making the proposal, said donor funds continued to dwindle following Ghana’s progressive maturity in democracy, hence the need to look for alternatives to fund the EC, as well as civil society roles in elections.

He made the proposal at the launch of the 2016 elections engagement reports by the Forum for Actions on Inclusion, Transparency and Harmony (FAITH), an initiative of the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS), in Accra yesterday.

Even though the Daily Graphic concedes that there is too much taxation on the formal sector, compared to the informal sector, we still are in support of the collaborative efforts to sustainably fund the operations of the EC.

Already, donor partners have hinted about stopping support for electoral activities in the country, arguing that Ghana, as a middle-income country, has come of age as a major democratic country and would not need that kind of funding.

Given that successful elections are so critical to our development and stability, Ghana, and for that matter the EC, cannot continue to rely on foreign charity for its sustenance.

While the Daily Graphic would like to commend the initiative by the NCS for launching the 2016 election engagement reports, the time is ripe for all stakeholders with various technical and legal  skills, to come together to contribute to the discussion and implementation of how to effectively fund the country’s election management body.

This is most imperative if Ghana’s democracy is to maintain its integrity and not to be undermined and jeopardised. We have no choice but to work towards an effective and sustained funding arrangement for the EC.